Wrap: Top 14, Round 15

For the second week in a row Bordeaux-Bègles have put in a top performance, this time away in the Top 14 to Bayonne who are having a nightmare time. Biarritz and Montpellier also won away and, despite Perpignan’s enthusiastic start, Racing came back to draw.

Clermont’s home win against Toulon was a telling result.

Results, Round 15:
Biarritz vs Agen, 15-6
Perpignan vs Racing Métro, 14-14
Bordeaux-Bègles vs Bayonne, 27-20
Montpellier vs Brive, 23-9
Stade Français vs Castres, 38-21
Toulouse vs Lyon, 51-10
Clermont vs Toulon, 25-19

Log after Round 15:

Their second successive win has lifted Biarritz off the bottom position on the log but troubled Bayonne are now in jeopardy. Agen have dropped two places while Bayonne and Lyon have dropped one each. Biarritz are up two places, Stade Français and Racing one each. Despite being beaten, Toulon’s bonus point was enough to shove them up a place.

Lyon and Bordeaux-Bègles each have a game in hand.

1 Toulouse 56
2 Clermont 50
3 Toulon 40
4 Castres 40
5 Stade Français 39
6 Racing-Métro 36
7 Agen 36
8 Montpellier 35
9 Bordeaux 30
10 Perpignan 27
11 Brive 24
12 Biarritz 23
13 Bayonne 23
14 Lyon 20

Match details:

Agen vs Biarritz

Biarritz beat Agen 15-6, five kicks to two kick, in an uninspiring match up the road at Stade Armandie in Agen on Friday night.

It was not advertisement for French rugby – no tries, seven kicks and a fight, after which Wenceslas Lauret of Biarritz was sin-binned.

Conrad Barnard opened the scoring after just two minutes. Dimitri Yachvili equalled the scores and then Marcelo Bosch scored a drop goal as he had done the week before. The teams went into the break with the Basques leading 6-03.

Yachvili made it 9-3 and then, with eight minutes to play, Barnard made it 9-6 but in the last three minutes Agen were penalised twice and Yachvili deprived the home side of a bonus point.

The scorers:

For Agen:
Pens: Barnard 2

For Biarritz:
Pens: Yachvili 4
DG: Bosch

The teams:

Agen: 15 Silvère Tian, 14 Saimoni Vaka, 13 Manu Ahotaeiloa, 12 Jamie Robinson, 11 Brice Dulin, 10 Conrad Barnard, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Ueleni Fono, 7 Adri Badenhorst, 6 Jean Monribot, 5 Lisiate Fa’aoso, 4 Dewald Senekal, 3 Martin Scelzo, 2 Jalil Narjissi, 1 John Schwalger.
Replacements: 16 Semisi Telefoni, 17 Laurent Cabarry, 18 Damien Lagrange, 19 Marc Giraud, 20 Sylvain Dupuy, 21 Junior Palesasa, 22 Miguel Avramovic, 23 Gert Muller.

Biarritz: 15 Iain Balshaw, 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 13 Charles Gimenez, 12 Damien Traille, 11 Ilikena Bolakoro, 10 Marcelo Bosch, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Florian Faure, 7 Benoît Guyot, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Pelu Taele, 4 Jerome Thion, 3 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2 Arnaud Heguy, 1 Sylvain Marconnet.
Replacements: 16 Romain Terrain, 17 Fabien Barcella, 18 Manuel Carizza, 19 Raphaël Lakafia, 20 Julien Peyrelongue, 21 Benoît Baby, 22 Dane Haylett Petty, 23 Thomas Lebrequier.

Referee: Romain Poite
Assistant referees: Stéphane Boyer, René Bordeneuve
TMO: Gilles Cogne

Perpignan vs Racing-Métro

Perpignan started off like a house on fire at Stade Aimé Giral. They were full of zest and energy and scored a splendid try thanks to a long break by James Hook, carried on by hooker Guilhem Guirado who drew and sent Farid Sid over.

After just five minutes they led 8-0. But the zest fizzled out and it took a later penalty goal to earn them a draw.

The scorers:

For Perpignan:
Try: Sid
Pens: Hook 3

For Racing-Métro:
Try: Imhoff
Pens: Wisniewski 3

The teams:

Perpignan: 15 Joffrey Michel, 14 Farid Sid, 13 David Marty, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Rudi Coetzee, 10 James Hook, 9 Kevin Boulogne, 8 Damien Chouly, 7 Ovidiu Tonita, 6 Bertrand Guiry, 5 Robins Tchale Watchou, 4 Olivier Olibeau, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Jérôme Schuster.
Replacements: 16 Charles Geli, 17 Kisi Pulu, 18 Romain Taofifenua, 19 Grégory Le Corvec, 20 Jean-Pierre Perez, 21 Florian Cazenave, 22 Gavin Hume, 23 Benoît Bourrust.

Racing-Métro: 15 Juan Imhoff, 14 Sireli Bobo, 13 Henry Chavancy, 12 Fabrice Estebanez, 11 Julien Saubade, 10 Jonathan Wisniewski, 9 Mathieu Lorée, 8 Jacques Cronjé, 7 Antoine Battut, 6 Rémi Vaquin, 5 François Van der Merwe, 4 Lionel Nallet (captain), 3 Mikaele Tu’ugahala, 2 Benjamin Noirot, 1 Julien Brugnaut.
Replacements: 16 Gregory Arganèse, 17 Andrea Lo Cicero, 18 Karim Ghezal, 19 John Leo’o, 20 Sébastien Descons, 21 Joshua Matavesi, 22 François Steyn , 23 Juan Pablo Orlandi.

Bayonne vs Bordeaux-Bègles

A great away win for the Bordeaux side but it seems that Bayonne’s internal troubles are digging them into a bigger and bigger hole, this at home at Stade Jean-Dauger.

The scorers:

For Bayonne:
Tries: Gerber, Iguiniz
Cons: Boyet, Otazo
Pens: Boyet 2

For Bordeaux-Bègles
Tries: Avei 2, Brana
Cons: Reihana 3
Pens: Reihana 2

The teams:

Bayonne: 15 Cédric Heymans, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Thibault Lacroix, 12 Lionel Mazars, 11 Sam Gerber, 10 Benjamin Boyet, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Sione Lauaki, 7 Jean-Joseph Marmouyet, 6 Dwayne Haare, 5 Abdellatif Boutaty, 4 Rob Linde (captain), 3 Neemia Tialata, 2 David Roumieu, 1 Aretz Iguiniz.
Replacements: 16 François Da Ros, 17 Vitolio Manukula, 18 Troy Flavell, 19 Marc Baget, 20 Cédric Garcia, 21 Clément Otazo, 22 Marvin O’Connor, 23 Denis Avril.

Bordeaux-Bègles: 15 Bruce Reihana, 14 Thierry Brana, 13 Julien Rey, 12 Felix Le Bourhis, 11 Rafaël Carballo, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Heini Adams, 8 Matthew Clarkin, 7 Hugh Chalmers, 6 Justin Purll, 5 Adam Jaulhac, 4 Daniel Leo’o, 3 Silviu Florea, 2 Wayne Avei, 1 Laurent Delboulbes.
Replacements: 16 Fabien Rofes, 17 Hikairo Forbes, 18 Cameron Treloar, 19 Louis Madaule, 20 Julien Seron, 21 Gérard Fraser, 22 Blair Connor, 23 Albert Toetu.

Referee: Céderic Marchat
Assistant referees: Alain Blondel, Jérôme Lamarque
TMO: Jean-Claude Levrier

Brive vs Montpellier

The scorers:

For Brive:
Pens: Caminati 3

For Montpellier:
Tries: Audrin, Tulou
Cons: Bustos Moyano 2
Pens: Bustos Moyano 3

The teams:

Brive: 15 Scott Spedding, 14 Julien Caminati,, 13 Arnaud Mignardi, 12 Riaan Swanepoel, 11 Ronald Cooke, 10 Mathieu Belie, 9 Jean-Baptiste Pejoine, 8 Antonie Claassen, 7 Alexandre Bias, 6 Vincent Forgues, 5 Olivier Caisso, 4 Retief Uys, 3 Pablo Cardinali, 2 Virgile Lacombe, 1 Pablo Henn.
Replacements: 16 Iuri Natriashvili, 17 Davit Kinchagishvili, 18 Arnaud Méla, 19 Simon Azoulai, 20 Julien Ledevedec, 21 Agustin Figuerola, 22 Jacques Boussuge, 23 Vasil Kakovin.

Montpellier: 15 Lucas Amorosino, 14 Martín Bustos Moyano, 13 Thomas Combezou, 12 Paul Bosch, 11 Yoan Audrin, 10 François Trinh-Duc (captain), 9 Julien Tomas, 8 Alex Tulou, 7 Mamuka Gorgodze, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Thibaut Privat, 4 Drikus Hancke, 3 George Jgenti, 2 Rassie Jansen van Vuuren, 1 Na’ama Leleimalefaga.
Replacements: 16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Mikheil Natriashvili, 18 Mickaël De Marco, 19 Rémy Martin, 20 Benoît Paillaugue, 21 Masini Matadigo, 22 Santiago Fernandez, 23 Maximiliano Bustos.

Referee: Laurent Cardona
Assistant referees: Nicholas Datas, Sébastien Hebert
TMO: Daniel Irazoqui

Stade Français vs Castres

Strange match – no penalty goals!

The home side earned a try bonus point.

The scorers:

For Stade Français:
Tries: Parisse, Papé, Arias 2, Sackey, Rabadan
Cons: Dupuy 4

For Castres:
Tries: Bai, Martial, Lacrampe
Cons: Teulet 3

The teams:

Stade Français: 15 Paul Warwick, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Paul Williams, 12 Martin Rodriguez, 11 Julien Arias, 10 Felipe Contepomi, 9 Julien Dupuy, 8 Sergio Parisse (captain), 7 David Lyons, 6 Pierre Rabadan, 5 Pascal Papé, 4 Gerhard Mostert, 3 David Attoub, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Stanley Wright.
Replacements: 16 Laurent Sempéré, 17 Rabah Slimani, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 LaValla, 20 Jérôme Fillol, 21 Morgan Turinui, 22 Jules Plisson, 23 Aled De Malmanche.

Castres: 15 Romain Teulet 14 Romain Martial, 13 Thomas Sanchou, 12 Seremaia Bai, 11 Maxwell Evans, 10 Pierre Bernard, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Chris Masoe, 7 Steeve Malonga, 6 Ibrahim Diarra, 5 Scott Murray, 4 Matthias Rolland, 3 Karena Wihongi, 2 Mathieu Bonello, 1 Anton Peikrishvili.
Replacements: 16 Marc Rallier, 17 Saimone Taumoepeau, 18 Jannie Bornman, 19 Yannick Caballero, 20 Pierre Lakafia, 21 Thierry Lacrampe, 22 Paul Bonnefond, 23 Luc Ducalcon.

Referee: Patrick Pechambert
Assistant referees: Christophe Dutreuilh, Laurent Sclafer
TMO: Hervé Dubes

Toulouse vs Lyon

The scorers:

For Toulouse:
Tries: Médard 2, Nyanga, Sowerby, Donguy, Fritz
Cons: Beauxis 6
Pens: Beauxis 3

For Lyon:
Try: Romanet
Con: Thomas
Pen: Thomas

The teams:

Toulouse: 15 Clément Poitrenaud, 14 Timoci Matanavou, 13 Yann David, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Maxime Médard, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Jean-Marc Doussain, 8 Sean Sowerby, 7 Sylvain Nicolas, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Gregory Lamboley, 3 Census Johnston, 2 Akvsenti Giorgadze, 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux.
Replacements: 16 Yohan Montes, 17 Gurthrö Steenkamp, 18 Romain Millo Chlusky, 19 Louis Picamoles, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Florian Fritz, 22 Yves Donguy, 23 Yassin Boutemane.

Lyon: 15 Mark van Gisbergen, 14 Franck Romanet , 13 Lee Thomas, 12 Latu Fatafehi, 11 Rémy Grosso, 10 Xavier Sadourny, 9 Enrico Januarie, 8 Sisaro Koyamaibole, 7 Juan Leguizamón, 6 Nicolas Bontinck, 5 Coenie Basson, 4 Jean Sousa, 3 Philemon Toleafoa, 2 Jean-Philippe Bonrepaux, 1 Xavier Fiard.
Replacements: 16 Vincent Colliat, 17 Arnaud Tchougong, 18 Arnaud Marchois, 19 Eugene N Zi, 20 Tewis de Bruyn, 21 Régis Lespinas, 22 Laurent Tranier, 23 Anthony Roux.

Referee: Frank Maciello
Assistant referees: Jérôme Lamirand, Christophe Clavere
TMO: Vincent Azoulay

Clermont vs Toulon

Clermont came strongly from behind and it was a try by big Aurélien Rougerie which gave them the lead.

The scorers:

For Clermont:
Try: Rougerie
Con: Parra
Pens: Parra 6

For Toulon:
Try: Lapeyre
Con: Wilkinson
Pens: Wilkinson 4

The teams:

Clermont: 15 Lee Byrne, 14 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 13 Aurélien Rougerie, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Julien Malzieu, 10 David Skrela, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Elvis Vermeulen, 7 Gerhard Vosloo, 6 Julien Bonnaire, 5 Nathan Hines, 4 Julien Pierre, 3 Clément Ric, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Vincent Debaty.
Replacements: 16 Ti’i Paulo, 17 Lionel Faure, 18 Loïc Jacquet, 19 Julien Bardy, 20 Kevin Senio, 21 Brock James, 22 Regan King, 23 Danie Kotze. 

Toulon: 15 Benjamin Lapeyre, 14 Alexis Palisson, 13 Geoffroy Messina, 12 Matt Giteau, 11 David Smith, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Sébastien Tillous-Borde, 8 Joe van Niekerk, 7 Steffon Armitage, 6 Joe El Abd, 5 Christophe Samson, 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Carl Hayman, 2 Jean-Charles Orioli , 1 Laurent Emmanuelli.
Replacements: 16 Sébastien Bruno, 17 Eifion Lewis-Roberts, 18 Bakkies Botha, 19 Kristian Chesney, 20 Pierrick Gunther, 21 Mathieu Bastareaud, 22 Gabriele Lovobalavu, 23 Davit Kubriashvili.

Referee: Christophe Berdos
Assistant referees: Salem Attalah, Régis Gabard
TMO: Eric Gauzins